De-bunking the myths of English Cookery
One delicious recipe at a time

Recipes that are delicious and that always work!

You know these recipes are delicious because if I didn't think that they were fabulous . . . I wouldn't be showing them to you. You can also be sure that these recipes work for the same reason! The rest is simply a matter of taste.

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Make Your Own Self Raising Flour:You can make your own self raising flour by adding 1 1/2 tsp of baking powder and 1/4 tsp of salt to every cup of plain flour.

Make Your Own Baking Powder:You can make your own baking powder by combining 1 tablespoon of bicarbonate of soda with 2 tablespoons of cream of tartar. It's ideal for coeliac sufferers who can't find the gluten-free variety of this raising agent, but measure it out carefully because too much or too little can upset a recipe's balance.

Make Your Own Mixed Spice:You can easily make your own mixed spice: Combine 1 TBS ground cinnamon, 1 tsp each of ground coriander and nutmeg, 1/2 tsp of ground ginger, 1/4 tsp each of ground cloves and all spice. Mix well and store in an airtight container out of the light for up to 6 months.

Make Your Own Cajun Seasoning: Mix together 2 1/2 TBS of salt, 1 TBS dried oregano leaves (Rub to a powder using your fingertips), 1 TBS sweet paprika, 1 TBS cayenne pepper, and 1 TBS ground black pepper. Store in an airtight container out of the light for up to six months.Make Your Own Pumpkin Pie Spice: Mix together 1 TBS ground cinnamon, 2 tsp ground ginger, 1/2 tsp ground cloves, 1/2 tsp ground allspice, 1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg and a pinch of ground mace or ground cardamom. Store in an airtight container out of the light for up to 6 months.

Welcome to my English Kitchen. I moved over here to England from Canada in the year 2000. Before I arrived, I was told that the cooking and food over here was awful, except for the Roast Beef and the Fish and Chips. I had no idea of what to expect, but it didn't sound good.
I landed at Heathrow with a bulging suitcase full of kitchen tools, handwritten recipes and a 4 litre can of Maple Syrup, totally prepared to be greeted with the worst.
I am happy to say that over the past 16 years I have discovered that most of what I had heard was totally and completelywrong!
Here in the UK we have some of the best poultry, meats, fishes, ingredients and produce in the world, and some of the most innovative chefs. I have learned so much about cooking in the past fifteen years, and I've enjoyed trying and experiencing many new things, thankfully most of them wonderfully delicious!
I love English food . . . both the traditional, and the wonderful blend that is modern British Cuisine . . . a delicious mixture of a variety of tastes and cultures.
I hope you'll come along with me as I explore all the wonderful tastes, sights and textures that England has to offer even the most discerning of palates.

Marie Rayner cooks and writes from a little terraced house where she lives with her man the Toddster, and their little pup Mitzie.

“And so with the sunshine and the great bursts of leaves growing on the trees, just as things grow in fast movies, I had that familiar conviction that life was beginning over again with the summer.”― F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby

What to eat now!

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Wednesday, 31 July 2013

So the blueberries are beginning to ripen in our garden now. Half of our bushes are an early variety which produces really big berries. They are about the size of grapes. On a side note, don't you just love this poem by Robert Frost??? I thought it was great!
I had about half a cup of nice ripe ones today. It wasn't enough to make much with . . . but I did need to pick them today. I suppose I could have frozen them, but the temptation to use them right now was too great and so I decided to make blueberry fritters.

Fruit fritters are really easy to make. You can do them with just about any type of fruit. In the local coffee shop back home you can buy apple ones, which are filled with cinnamon and big chunks of apple and sultana raisins. If you are using a really wet fruit, you will want to dry it well and dip it in some flour before you dip it into the batter, or the batter won't stick.

Some of the berries will probably pop out when you cook these, but that's ok . . . it just makes these little craggy holes which get all crisp on the edges . . . my favourite part and the fried berries are rather scrummy too.

You could glaze them with an icing sugar glaze, but I just dust mine with icing sugar. They look like they've been snowed on, and I rather like the look of it myself . . . besides glazes can sometimes turn things soggy . . . and we don't want that do we?

We want nice crisp fritters . . . with golden brown edges and just enough sweet to go with the tartness of the berries. I like mine to be really golden brown, but if you like yours lighter just take them out sooner. The important thing is to make sure your oil is hot enough before you begin frying. That's the secret to a crisp fritter!

These
are easy to make and delicious. I am rather lazy you know, so easy
works best for me. Do make sure your oil is at the right temperature so
that you end up with crisp fritters instead of soggy greasy ones.
Ideally it should be 180 to 190*C/360- 375*F. If you have a deep fat
thermometer, use it. If not, the oil is ready if when a drop of batter
dropped into it the drop sizzles immediately and rises to the top.
Under no circumstances should you walk away from the stove when deep fat
frying. Also keep a pot lid handy to clap onto the top of the pan in
case of fire.

1 cup plain flour (140g)

1/4 cup caster sugar (50g)

1 heaped tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground cardamom

the finely grated zest of one lemon

1 large free range egg, beaten

1/3 cup whole milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/2 TBS butter, melted

1/2 cup fresh blueberries (small punnet)

canola oil for frying

icing sugar for dusting

Sift
the flour into a bowl along with the sugar, baking powder, salt,
cinnamon and cardamom. Whisk in the lemon zest. Beat together the
egg, milk, vanilla and melted butter. Make a well in the dry
ingredients and add the wet all at once. Stir just to combine. It's ok
if it's lumpy, that's a good sign. Fold in the fruit.

Heat
3 to 4 inches of canola oil in a deep skillet. Once the oil is hot
enough (see above) drop in heaped TBS of the batter, using two spoons to
roll scoops of the batter into the hot oil. Don't over crowd the pan
or your oil will cool down too much. I only do two to three at a time.
Cook until crisp and brown on one side, 2 1/2 to 3 minutes, then
carefully flip them over and brown on the other side for approximately
the same amount of time. Scoop out onto a rack lined with paper kitchen
toweling to drain.

Allow to cool somewhat. Dust
generously with sifted icing sugar and serve. These aren't keepers so
eat on the day! (They get soggy if left longer, although you can
refresh them somewhat in a hot oven.)

8 comments:

I am going to make these for sure. I just made salmon and potato fritters with homemade tartare sauce for my lunch. They were delicious. My mother was a great fan of fritters and made them really yummy. Blueberries are quiet expensive in Australia, but they are so good :)

I think I baked my absolute most favourite cake of the year today! And, YES , that IS saying a lot!! I picked up the August issue of G...

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Due to increased interest, I have decided to offer my illustrated cookbooklets on a permanent basis. At present there are five on offer, but I will be adding to them from time to time so do check back often. You can find them all by clicking on the COOKBOOKLET heading above. I think you will find that they are good value for money spent and they make delightful and economical gifts for your friends and family. Thanks so much for looking!

They are titled: A Very Royal Tea Party, The Great British Picnic, Christmas in The English Kitchen, Recipes to Keep, and Spring into Summer.

All are recipes that you will not find on my blog anywhere.

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I can't pretend to know everything, but I more than welcome your questions and suggestions. Feel free to e-mail me on MarieAliceJoan at aol dot com and I'll endeavour to find out the answers to your most burning questions. Maybe we can learn together!